Re: installation directory

[Rick Stevens <rstevens vitalstream com>]

M A wrote:
> HI,
>
> I am new to linux. i have redhat 8.0 and i have a very simple question
> if i download a source code(not RPM package) for some software and i 
> want to installed using configure, make and make install.
> In what folder do the software get installed? and what if i want to 
> removed how can i do that?
> for example in windows most of the software get installed under program 
> files and you could remove it using add and remove from control panal.
>
> i really thank you in advance for your help, and please forgive me that 
> iam still new to linux and really lost.

That's OK, most of us have been lost, too, at one time or another.

If the package does indeed include the good old "configure" script,
you can do a "./configure --help" and see a list of the options that
particular script supports.  Most often, you'll find something like:

[root prophead somedir] ./configure --help
(SNIP)
Directory and file names:
  --prefix=PREFIX         install architecture-independent files in PREFIX
                          [/usr/local]
  --exec-prefix=EPREFIX   install architecture-dependent files in EPREFIX
                          [same as prefix]
  --bindir=DIR            user executables in DIR [EPREFIX/bin]
  --sbindir=DIR           system admin executables in DIR [EPREFIX/sbin]
  --libexecdir=DIR        program executables in DIR [EPREFIX/libexec]
  --datadir=DIR           read-only architecture-independent data in DIR
                          [PREFIX/share]
  --sysconfdir=DIR        read-only single-machine data in DIR [PREFIX/etc]
  --sharedstatedir=DIR    modifiable architecture-independent data in DIR
                          [PREFIX/com]
  --localstatedir=DIR     modifiable single-machine data in DIR 
[PREFIX/var]
  --libdir=DIR            object code libraries in DIR [EPREFIX/lib]

(END SNIP)

This means that you can force the base install directory by specifying
"./configure --prefix=/new/directory", and everything will be based off
of that.  By default (and in the example above), the usual spot is
"/usr/local".

I hope that helps.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens vitalstream com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-            I'm afraid my karma just ran over your dogma            -
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